March 5, 2026 | By Brandon White, ARCARacing.com

Carson Brown dominates ARCA Menards Series at Phoenix

AVONDALE, Ariz.—Pinnacle Racing Group nearly experienced an unfortunate case of déjà vu at Phoenix Raceway on Thursday evening, this time with Carson Brown behind the wheel.

In last year’s General Tire 150, Pinnacle Racing Group led coming to the white flag with Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, only for a late-race caution to force an overtime finish. Queen ended up losing after he was passed by Brent Crews in the final corner during the second overtime attempt.

The same scenario yielded a much more favorable outcome for Pinnacle Racing Group in 2026. Brown withstood a charge from his teammate Tristan McKee to prevail in his maiden national ARCA Menards Series start, which also resulted in Pinnacle Racing Group’s first one-two finish with McKee following Brown across the start-finish line.

Brown led almost every lap of the General Tire 150 prior to Dustin Hillenburg’s spin that brought out the final yellow of the day. The pressure of the situation did not phase Brown, who was thrilled to bring Pinnacle Racing Group back to Phoenix’s Victory Lane.

“All the guys back at PRG, [I have to give] a big thank you to them,” Brown said. “That green-white-checkered got a little hairy there. [McKee and I] made a little contact coming off [turn] two, but I thought I could kind of persevere there and make it to the finish line.”

Although Thursday was Brown’s official national ARCA Menards Series debut, he was already familiar with Phoenix.

The 2025 ARCA Menards Series West finale at Phoenix featured Brown in the 25-car field, piloting the same No. 28 Queen had won a championship with a month prior. Brown drove a clean and composed race to place second behind the race winner in Crews.

Brown’s experience from that outing was prevalent throughout his second trip to Phoenix on the ARCA Menards Series platform. A time of 27.67 in qualifying gave Brown the pole. He then proceeded to lead most of the General Tire 150 with minimal resistance.

McKee was the only driver to apply any kind of pressure to Brown throughout the race. He managed to deny Brown a perfect race with a couple of well-executed restarts but was unable to match his teammate’s pace once the two settled into a run.

Although the overtime restart gave McKee one final opportunity to overtake Brown, he made slight contact with the No. 28 and ended up settling for second. McKee expressed regret over coming together with Brown but was satisfied with his performance and helping Pinnacle Racing Group sweep the top two positions.

“I tried to get as close to [Brown] as possible there,” McKee said. “I kind of got loose because he was on my door like that. There wasn’t much I could have done there. I had a good last lap through [turns] one and two and got pretty close, but I wasn’t going to wreck him or anything like that.”

Like Brown, McKee has a busy year ahead after Thursday’s General Tire 150. The two prospects will anchor Pinnacle Racing Group’s ARCA Menards Series East cars, with McKee also set to make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut once he turns 16 later this year.

Thursday was just another chapter in what has already been an adventurous 2026 for Brown, who is also a development driver for Richard Childress Racing. He earned a victory in the ASA STARS National Tour season-opener at New Smyrna Speedway last month, a series in which he intends to pursue a championship alongside substantial commitments to Late Model Stocks and the East Series.

Even with so many races lined up on his schedule, Brown is already carrying on the high standard of efficiency at Pinnacle Racing Group that guided Queen to a title last year. Phoenix was only Brown’s first ARCA Menards Series race of 2026, which leaves plenty of opportunities for him to continue improving on the platform.

Following Brown and McKee home in third was Thomas Annunziata, with reigning West Series champion Trevor Huddleston securing a fourth-place finish. Mason Massey, who won the West Series opener at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway last week, rounded out the top five.

The rest of the top 10 consisted of Jake Bollman, Isaac Kitzmiller, Taylor Mayhew, Max Reaves and Robbie Kennealy.

More than a month will pass before the national ARCA Menards Series hits the track for the third race of 2026, which takes place at Kansas Speedway on Apr. 18 live on FS1. The ARCA Menards Series West returns to action the week before with a trip to Tucson Speedway on Apr. 11 with FloRacing providing live coverage.


PHOENIX ARCA MENARDS SERIES RACE RESULTS

Thursday, March 5, 2026

Pos. No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff.
1 28 Carson Brown * Distributor Wire And Cable Chevrolet 157  —
2 77 Tristan McKee * Miner Chevrolet 157 0.299
3 70 Thomas Annunziata JBL Toyota 157 0.882
4 50 Trevor Huddleston High Point Racing/Racecar Factory Ford 157 1.332
5 81 Mason Massey Brunt Boots/Mongoose Power Solutions Chevrolet 157 1.78
6 20 Jake Bollman * Nitro Motorsports Toyota 157 2.174
7 79 Isaac Kitzmiller A.L.L. Construction/Carter Cat Chevrolet 157 2.287
8 17 Taylor Mayhew * MMI Toyota 157 2.576
9 18 Max Reaves * Cook Out Toyota 157 2.716
10 41 Robbie Kennealy Jan’s Racing Ford 157 2.872
11 16 Hailie Deegan NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet 157 2.883
12 4 Monty Tipton * Bare Bones Broth/Nascimento Motorsports Toyota 157 3.403
13 5 Eric Johnson Jr Sherwin-Williams Toyota 157 6.832
14 42 Jaiden Reyna * MMI Chevrolet 155 2 Laps
15 56 Andrew Chapman * High Point Racing/Racecar Factory Ford 155 2 Laps
16 97 Jason Kitzmiller A.L.L. Construction/Carter Cat Chevrolet 155 2 Laps
17 91 Ryan Vargas Maples Motorsports Ford 154 3 Laps
18 71 Andy Jankowiak Phillips 66 Lubricants/Whelen Chevrolet 154 3 Laps
19 72 Cody Dennison Allied Cloud LLC Chevrolet 154 3 Laps
20 99 Michael Maples Maples Motorsports Chevrolet 152 5 Laps
21 55 Isabella Robusto Mobil 1 Toyota 150 7 Laps
22 03 Alex Clubb Yavapai Bottle Gas Ford 150 7 Laps
23 12 Takuma Koga Macnica/Ikedo/Yamada Toyota 150 7 Laps
24 01 Cole Denton * Jan’s Towing Ford 149 8 Laps
25 1 Tony Cosentino Maples Motorsports Chevrolet 149 8 Laps
26 05 David Smith Shockwave Marine Suspension Toyota 149 8 Laps
27 11 Dustin Hillenburg * Fast Track Racing/Integrity Flooring Toyota 149 8 Laps
28 90 Jade Avedisian * Yahoo Toyota 142 15 Laps
29 7 Gavin Ray * Component West Toyota 114 43 Laps
30 15 Mia Lovell * Pine Health Toyota 100 57 Laps
31 25 Julian Dacosta * Austin Canvas And Awning Toyota 99 58 Laps
32 13 Taylor Reimer * Central Coast Cabinets Toyota 99 58 Laps
33 51 Tyler Tomassi RBR Racing Chevrolet 44 113 Laps
34 10 Brad Perez Race City Graphics/Vampire State Ford 36 121 Laps
35 19 Zachary Tinkle Maples Motorsports Chevrolet 14 143 Laps
36 9 Nate Moeller Fast Track Racing Ford 6 151 Laps
37 06 Bobby Hillis Jr First Impression Press/Hinckley Lighting Chevrolet 0 157 Laps
38 48 Brad Smith Gary’s Speed Shop Ford 0 157 Laps
39 89 Bobby Earnhardt Smart Grid Integrations Chevrolet 0 157 Laps
40 86 Jeff Maconi * Maconi Setup Shop Ford 0 157 Laps